I'm Not Very Good...

I'm not good at the whole gift-giving thing. Don't get me wrong, I give good gifts, but I have a really bad tendency to want to tell the person about the gift I just bought them. I've spent the last month and a half walking up to Brian and asking, "Hey, do you want to know what I just bought you for Christmas?" The dumb thing is that I'm always shocked when he tells me "No." Why can't I just keep these silly things a secret!?!

Top Secret!

I'm sitting here at Parent Teacher Conferences and am feeling like poking my eye out. I take that back, I feel like poking both my eyes out! So, naturally, I blog.

Here's some of the best kept teacher secrets that I'm willing to risk my skin to share with you:

1: Before Parent Teacher Conferences, they stuff us full of sugar in hopes that we'll ride the high for the the four and a half hours that we sit here. To put it simply, they drug us up.

2: When we say that your student is a good kid, we mean that we could actually hang them from the roof of the school by their ankles and leave them there through Christmas break and not even think about it once while we're away.

3: We don't want to talk to the parents of students who are doing well in our class. Surprise! It's generally only the parents of the good kids that show up, so, we don't need to have this event in the firstplace.

4: Teachers listen in on all of the conversations that are taking place around them and we are all going to go home and tell our spouses everything we heard, including the student explaining to the parent that they "really have all their work turned in, the teacher just hates me and wants me to suffer."

5: We might look official with our laptops on the table, but we're really playing fantasy football, online poker, and of course blogging!

Shame on me...

Merry Thanksgivoween!

Merry Thanksgivoween to everyone! I haven't posted in a while so, I thought this sentiment was appropriate.

October was a busy month for Brian and I because a lot of progress has been made on the big house and I quit my job as a photographer. I substitute taught twice before I got a phone call from my old high school. They needed a permanent sub for an english class and asked me to be it! I've been teaching for over a month now and it's been an ADVENTURE! I'm not an english teacher, but I'm faking it pretty well so far. I don't know yet if I'll get the job permanently, but I'll be at Mountain View until at least Christmas possibly through January. It's been fun.

Brian and I and Nicole and Tristan Nelson threw a Halloween party on Halloween. It was fun to see our friends play along and get all dressed up to celebrate.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. I'll do a better job at keeping this updated, but I just want to say thanks to everyone for your love and support! It's a great Thanksgiving Day!

Simple Pleasures...

* Coming home to find a sink void of last night's dishes.
* The dogs finally laying down to snooze after almost a full hour of wrestling.
* Waking up at nine on a monday morning.
* Being able to just throw something in the trash can without having to perform a magic trick to get that one wrapper balanced on the pile of trash.
* Hearing from random friends at odd times of day.
* Receiving a check in the mail that I'd forgotten I was going to get.
* Feeling my husbands arms wrap around me even though I know he's sound asleep.
* Having a few days off to get my head back to normal!

For Marcie

So, a little while ago, Marcie Jessee asked me about Brian, so here's a little about MY BRIAN!!!!

This is my Brian. He was born on September 10, 1983 in Orem, UT.

This is the Orem, UT house that he grew up in.

He was an adorable and happy little boy growing up.


He's never been one to shy away from the spotlight, regardless what the situation is.

Whether it's his hands, arms, or clothes, he never really seems to get completely clean no matter how long his nightly showers are.


He loves music. He's been playing the French Horn for many years now. He started in junior high, continued through high school and now plays with the American Fork Symphony.

He also plays the piano and the organ. Our ward has benefited from these talents more than once.

He's always been a dog person.

Scouts are HUGE to Brian. He's still involved in scouts after all these years.

This is what Brian looked like when we met. We were almost sixteen and in Driver's Ed. together.

We both graduated from Mountain View High School in 2002.

He can be really loud sometimes.

He's the third of ten kids. He's got two older sisters, three younger sisters, and four younger brothers.


He loves working on cars.

Brian is an excellent driver, he really is. He can drive anything and manuevers any kind of vehicle with ease.

Right now, Brian works building his parents home. He's done really well learning all the different aspects of construction.

So, when Brian is all done growing up he will be a helicopter pilot. He is right in the middle of training. He has his private pilot's license and (cross your fingers) he should be fully licensed by late spring of next year.

Well, that's my man. He's wonderful and I love him so much!

Tagged!

I am: 25 years old
I think: Only when I have to
I know: Brian loves me
I want: To be a mom
I have: A lot of friends and family
I dislike: Working
I miss: My friends that I haven't seen
I fear: Not being able to have kids of my own
I feel: Full
I hear: Dogs snoring and Brian working
I smell: New carpet
I crave: Sees Chocolates
I cry: At the silliest little things
I usually: Am a super friendly person
I search: For the answers to my questions...
I wonder: If my tumor has grown back
I regret:Not having received additional endorsements for teaching
I love: Everything
I care: About people
I always: Want to help people be happy
I worry: about not having a baby
I am not: A butt-kisser
I remember: What it felt like to be a little kid in the summer when the hours went by so slow and there was always time for a bike ride through the neighborhood
I believe: If we keep doing what we should, we will be blest
I dance: Every chance I get
I sing: In the car
I always: Shower before leaving the house for the day
I argue: When I want attention
I write: Little articles when I dream about becoming a writer
I win: The stubborn battle between me and the dogs
I lose: Phase 10
I wish: I could be on vacation
I listen: To people's unspoken words
I don't understand: Rude people
I can usually be found: At work or at home
I am scared: When Brian isn't in sight
I need: Love and attention
I forget: Anything important like tickets to theme parks and football games and performances
I am happy: Yep!

Ok, I tag Holly, Angela, and Marcie

What a week!

I hate to grip about life, but this has been one rough week! It kind of started about a week and a half ago when I was driving around Bountiful, looking for the school where I was working that day. Suddenly, the power steering went out on the Saab and all sorts of warning lights came on inside the car. I finally found the place that I was looking for, but I had to call Brian to tell him that the car was broken. He had to bring a trailer up to Bountiful to rescue me. We had a belt go out on the car and a pulley and had to special order the parts. So, the car sat for a week.

On Friday, we had the ward campout. It went really well, but I didn't hardly get any sleep and it was COLD!!! We are on the activities committee with another couple, so the four of us had to fun the whole event.

Saturday, after we got home from the campout, Brian headed next door to work. As I was enjoying the football game, I was startled by Brian running through the door, holding his hand and panicked. He'd dropped a cement mixer on his hand and tore the nail off of his pinky finger. So, we hopped in the car and headed to the emergency room to make sure Brian didn't break his finger. They x-rayed the finger and found that it wasn't crushed, but could be cracked.

On Tuesday this week, I was at a school in Springville photographing, and for some reason a little fifth grader decided to tell her mom that I said she was retarded. I have never said anything like that to a child and as I processed the things I said to the little girl, I told her, "You'll look cuter if you smile." Apparently the fifth-grader translation of that is "You're retarded." So, I got to go home early, in tears and all. But thankfully, one of my managers was there and was able to vouch for me with the boss. That same evening, we pulled all of the furniture out of our family room because we are getting new carpet.

Thursday, the carpet came! It is awesome. However, what's not awesome is that Brian is practically paralyzed because he's thrown out his back. He can't move without groaning.

Now it's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Oh, on a brighter note, Brian and I turned 25 this last week. His birthday was the 10th and mine was the 17th. Happy Birthday to us!

I Have Man Legs...

Here's the problem: Most mornings I have to be at work around 5:30-6:00am, which means waking up at 4:00 or 4:30am to get to work on time. I refuse to wake up ten minutes earlier to allot myself time to shave my legs, besides, I wear pants anyway. So, by Saturday morning, you guessed it-MY LEGS LOOK LIKE BRIAN'S!!! It's so gross, but I'm not about to wake up any earlier just to feel a bit more girly!

Say Cheese!!!

I'm tired all the time now. I don't drive very well and I am starting to learn every word of every song on the radio. I'm a photographer. I started working for Lifetouch Photography two weeks ago and it's been a ride! I photograph students and teachers for the yearbook or for their official school pictures. We start our day VERY early. More often then not, I have to be starting work at six in the morning and many times I work in Salt Lake...which means waking up at four-thirty or so. Almost needless to say, I'm not the safest sleep-deprieved driver on the freeway everyday.

I get to set up a lot of equipment and take it down almost everyday. I get to come up with witty comebacks for comments like, "Can you make me look like Meg Ryan?" or "Is that the lens that takes thirty pounds off my body?" (Those comments are from the teachers.) I get to try to make the scary gothic chick look, well, less scary (it didn't work--don't make a gothic chick smile in a picture, it's worse than the no smile "I'm angry at everyone" look.) I get to deal with the kids who can't seperate the motion of their heads from their shoulders. AND I get to bite my tongue when I tell a girl six times to look in the lens before realizing that she's got a lazy eye. It's a good job that's killing me slowly--how can I complain?

Quitting, Cleaning, and other craziness...

So, I'm not a flake. Really. I don't mind having a job and bringing in some extra money, but I've been struggling a little bit trying to find something that I enjoy. I found a job as an optometrist assistant and thought that it might be a cool thing to do, but the optometrist turned out to be a jerk. He would yell at us, belittle us in front of patients, and was just unnecessarily mean. I was blamed for a mix up that happened back in March, though I didn't start working for him until June. Brian was getting fed up with me coming home in tears, so after Dr. Codner threw contacts down on my desk and yelled at me for not "taking care of them", I was done. I went to lunch and never went back. It's been great!!!

So, in the meantime, I've decided to make myself useful and I've been deep cleaning my house, room by room. I'm pretty proud of myself cause I've worked hard and the place is looking pretty good. We're trying to decide what to do about the floors in the living/family room, so I haven't cleaned that yet, but otherwise I'm pretty much done. Which means, it's time to find another job...

While all this has been going on, we've been missing our t.v. Now, I don't want people to think that we are these huge couch potatoes who live through television, but we do enjoy winding down in the evening by watching some t.v. The dumb thing broke about a month ago and the people who are supposed to be fixing it are DRAGGING their feet. It's totally lame!

Brian has spent the last week working full-time on the big house trying to get the place ready for the four-way inspection. He's taking a little time off of school so that he can make a lot of headway on the house. He wanted to get his private pilot license first, which he did about two weeks ago. SO, that means he's officially a pilot! I'm very excited and super proud of him!

How much is that doggy in the window?

Ok, here's a photo journal of what's been happening over the last month. Sorry I've been absent for so long...

For the first part of June we had to leave our windows open to get air into the house because we didn't have air conditioning. Buick learned that if he jumped up, he could see everything that was going on inside the house. This was bad because Shelby realized that she too could jump up--the difference between the two is that Buick would have to settle for leaning into the house, whereas Shelby could actually jump into the house.


We never took a picture of Shelby jumping, so here's one of her just for fun.


Oh, I'm happy to report that we finished our fence so the dogs are no longer hooked up to cables but instead are free to roam around the backyard. We think they're both pretty happy with this.

I got the urge to go hiking one Saturday evening, so Brian and I drove up to Stewart Falls on his motorcycle.



We invited Emma and her husband Kevin to come too. (Sorry, I can't remember how to turn the pictures the right way...) We got to the falls and ate a picnic dinner. It was great being outdoors and doing something active. I feel like I've been cooped up for the longest time!

Next we had cub scout day camp. It was a nightmare trying to get this planned. The week of the day camp, Brian was supposed to go to Timberline for a few days--that didn't end up happening. Then, because we also serve on the Activities Committee, he had to go to Father's and Son's the night before and we thought that the camp was in the morning, so I had to ask Brian's mom if she would come with me, but then it ended up that the camp was in the afternoon, so he was able to come with me. I was so glad he did. It was kind fun to be up there.


Now, onto the Fourth! Brian and I got up earlier than usual to go to the parade. My lame siblings didn't make it (yes I'm talking to both of you--Carrie and Erin!!!) But I was glad we went because we ended up being there to support some of Brian's family.

First:

Grandpa Furr came riding by in a truck with an army band that he plays in. I was surprised because he actually recognized me first out of all the people that we were sitting with. He was kind enough to play something on his bugle for us.

Next:

Brian's little brother, Tracey, was in the Orem High marching band. I was so proud of him for enduring the heat. When he walked past us, he didn't look like he was enjoying himself, necessarily, but it was fun for us to see him.

After a dinner of sandwiches and such at Carries, we went downstairs to play Rock Star. Carrie and I sang, Brian played the drums and Tom played the guitar. It was hilarious. I think I want a Wii just for that game. My opinion is that we sounded better than the Stadium of Fire entertainment. Sorry for any fans of Miley Cyrus, but she was AWFUL!!! Anyway, we did survive her performance and made it to the fireworks.

Overall, it was a pretty good Fourth.

Well, that's what we've been up to. I'll try to stay more on top of things in the future!!!

Getting Away for the Day

Our first anniversary was on the 12th and Brian surprised me by planning a getaway to celebrate. I was shocked that he came up with this plan because I'm usually the one who plans the trips. The only snag was that I had just started a new job on the ninth and so it was a little awkward asking for time off after three days at the office, but fortunately Dr. Codner was very understanding and let me go.

We stayed at Daniel's Summit Lodge. The room was completely amazing and we had fun taking pictures around the room.



We left the fire on all night because it was such a novelty to have one! Sadly, it wasn't a real fire, but I wasn't about to get picky.

There was a huge jetted tub which was great, but we had to laugh because there was a note by the tub explaining that the water in those mountains in the Spring is orange because of the high iron content. Sure enough, the water looked about the color of apple juice.

This buffalo is right outside the spa where Brian got us massages.

This is some more decor from the lobby of the lodge.

What I haven't explained yet is that we rode the motorcycle, which is normally a great idea in the warmth of June. However, we do live in Utah where the weather has never been guilty of being predictable, so it was FREEZING!!! The day we were headed up the to the lodge, it snowed in the mountains. The lodge was at an elevation of 6800 ft. and it was bitterly cold. I tried to bundle up as best I could, but I don't know if I've ever been so cold on that motorcycle.

Brian faired a bit better than I did and as we completed our journey the weather got a little nicer. These pictures are at Starvation Reservoir which is incredibly beautiful. Anyway, we drove from Orem, to just outside of Heber; then out to Duschene and down to Price and then back home. It was a great journey, but my buns are still a little sore! Thanks, honey, for the great anniversary!

My Delayed ABC's

my abc's I was supposed to have done this about a month ago, but life got crazy!

A- Attached or single: attached

B- Best Friend: Brian

C- Cake or Pie: yes please

D- Day of choice: Saturday

E- Essential Item: Flip-Flops

F- Favorite Color: Black

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: No thanks, I don't do gummi

H- Hometown: Orem, UT

I- Indulgence(s): Vanilla Italian Soda and Sees Chocolates

J- January or July: April

K- Kids: Someday

L- Life is Incomplete Without: Brian

M- Marriage Date: June 12, 2007

N- Number of Siblings: 5

O- Oranges or Apples: oranges

P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders, Heights, Outer Space

Q- Quotes: "Are you sure?"

R- Reason To Smile: The future is sure to be good

S- Season: Spring

T- Tag Three: Carrie, Erin, Rosie

U- Unknown Fact About Me: Sometimes I dream about becoming a car mechanic

V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: MEAT

W- Worst Habit: Eating candy when I'm stressed

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I'm not sure I understand this one. I've had both and like neither

Y- Your Favorite Food: Chocolate

Z- Zodiac: Virgo

By Popular Demand...OUR TRIP!!!!

(Disclaimer: This may be a long one so you may want to use the restroom, get something to eat and possibly take a nap before proceeding. Oh, and don't forget to keep your arms, hands, feet and legs inside the ride at all times. Thank you.)

We started our trek early on Thursday morning. We were happy; we were awake; we were in good spirits. As usual, I had that nagging feeling that I'd forgotten something and I usually do, but it's always something silly like my dental floss or even my beach towel. We'd been on the road an hour and a half when I started thinking through all the things I packed. Then, with the most sickening feeling in my gut, I realized that I'd forgotten the tickets to all the theme parks that we were going to. Basically, I hadn't packed the one thing that made this vacation what it was supposed to be. We started to turn around to go back home to pick them up and I was mad at myself. About ten minutes after turning around, I thought, "Wait, what if we have someone overnight them to us." Bless Mom Furr's heart, she saved the vacation and got the tickets mailed to us so that we could go one with the vacation as planned.

Ok, now I'll tell the story using pictures.

This is the classic Disneyland picture, complete with the scantily clad stranger in the corner.

I made the mistake of going to the bathroom. When I got back, Brian was doing the Hokey Pokey with a bunch of kids, a fiddler, and Pocahontas. I got yelled at by the fiddler when I wanted Brian to leave. The fiddler made me join too. We think the fiddler might have been LDS because when we FINALLY finished the Hokey Pokey, he asked us where we were from. When we told him Utah, he immediately started singing, "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree."

This is the four of us that went on the vacation. That's Jerry and Erin Baum in the background. We were on the Matterhorn and I've never been more sure that the roller coaster was going to crash in all my life!

We may look happy, but it was HOT. We were so glad for long lines on rides that had us wait inside.

Now we are at the San Deigo Zoo. We really liked the zoo, but I feel it my duty to warn you. THIS ZOO IS NOT BUILT ON FLAT GROUND!!! If you like hiking, this place is for you. If you don't, RIDE THE BUS. We walked of course, because we didn't realize that you could build a zoo in a canyon.

I've come to realize something about zoos; the cooler the animal is, the more likely you are only going to get pictures of their butts. Ok, seriously, we did get some good pictures of the elephants and other animals, but I really am trying to not let this post get out of control, contrary to what it may appear...

AWWW! PANDAS!!! So so so so so so CUTE!!!

Ah, the beach. It was a beautiful day on Sunday so we drove to the ocean so our friend Jerry could actually touch the water.

We went to Universal Studios on Monday. It was still really really hot.

The Simpsons Ride opened the day we were there. It was AWESOME!!!

On a miserably hot day, it's Blue Raspberry Slushies to the rescue!!

Ok, now we're at Sea World. The park is awesome! This obviously is the Shamu show. We took pictures of the tricks the whales could do, but I put my camera away when they started the "Splash" segment of the show. Our friend Jerry didn't put his video camera away and it died from all the water on it. Apparently, salt water immediately corrodes electronics. Who knew!?!

Don't we make cute penguins?

The Mantee Rescue was closed. This was Brian's response:

Wednesday of the trip we went back to the beach so that we could actually play in the water. The sun was shining, but the temperatures had dropped and the wind was blowing. It was cold. I played for a short while, but then ran up to my towel and spent the rest of the day wrapped up. Brian thoroughly enjoyed the water as you can tell from his triumphant return from the waves. Jerry and Erin also spent a lot more time in the water then I did.

Brian buried me in the sand. I was completely content just laying there because it was a lot warmer IN the sand than ON the sand.

On Thursday and Friday we were back at Disneyland. The weather was terrible on Thursday and it poured rain. On Friday it was just cold.

I'm sure the reason for the poor weather was because Brian was making fun of the Hawaiian gods...

Ok, I did too.

Well, "F" is for FINALLY FINISHED!!! It was a great trip and I'm so glad we took it. We did a lot and had a lot of fun. I'm already counting down to the next trip we take!

As a reward for being so kind and reading this WHOLE entry. I'll leave you with something that will hopefully give you a chuckle...

"Run, Jerry. RUN!!!"